Electrical switching contacts in vacuum tubes must meet various requirements. The vacuum tubes in the closed state are to conduct electricity, which is why a contact material having very high electrical conductivity is employed for the contact elements of the switching contacts. On account of the high contact pressures and switching speeds high mechanical, thermo-mechanical, and thermo-physical loads arise as well as extreme temperature loads due to flashing arcs during switching on and off. Therefore, a mixture of two or more metallic or non-metallic components is mostly used as a contact material. The mixture comprises at least one highly conductive component and one component having high mechanical and thermal resilience. Examples thereof include CuCr or WCAg or WCu, wherein Cu (copper) or Ag (silver), respectively, provides the high electrical conductivity, and Cr (chromium), WC (tungsten carbide), or W (tungsten), respectively, is responsible for the resistance to abrasion and the positive mechanical properties.
Methods in which an electric or electromagnetic field supports and/or instigates a sintering process are known in the prior art and are collectively referred to by the term FAST (field-assisted sintering technologies).
It is known for electrical switching contacts to be produced using a FAST method.